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Thursday, August 3, 2017

Last Saturday, we saw a dog show at the zoo with stunt dogs who were all rescue dogs. It was so much fun that we went again the next day and this time brought my camera along. Saturday, I got to pet Confetti, the last dog. It was very fun seeing the dogs really enjoy doing their stunts and I liked how they got the audience involved as well.

You still can go see it this weekend yet!

(I apologize for the poor quality of this video but I had to use the email save for it to make it small enough to upload to my blog.)

Monday, July 17, 2017

Today is Spunky Doodle's "gotcha day" and she is now 13! Since she is now our only cat, she is happy to be able to have access to her food any time she wants it throughout the day. I can just leave some out for her on the kitchen table and she can get it whenever she wants. I am happy she is back to dry food again too. It's so much easier and way less messy!

Thursday, July 6, 2017

I am so glad my husband and I discovered the game of Pickleball--it is great exercise and a lot of fun! I enjoyed teaching others to play so that they could teach kids to play at our Focus Sports Camp in June at Parma Heights Baptist Church. I had the privilege of being the Pickleball director in June when we added the sport for the first time this year.

Practicing dinking (ball bouncing in kitchen close to net)

It is an easy game to learn but one that has lots of aspects to practice and improve. It is a game of patience, ball control and strategy that all ages can enjoy! It was fun seeing how fast the kids at sports camp caught on and were playing some close exciting games by the third day!

Pickleball is played with paddles slightly bigger than ping pong paddles and with a whiffle ball. It is played on court the same size as is used for badminton, much smaller than a tennis court so involves less running. It is very similar to tennis in strategy but the serve must be underhand and the service box is positioned in the back of the court as opposed to the service box in tennis at the front of the court. Pickleball has a couple quirky rules such as the double-bounce rule and not volleying the ball in the kitchen area or the "non-volley zone (the area 7' from the net). The double-bounce rule is simply that you must let the ball bounce once before hitting it on the serve and the return of serve. A game is to 11 points but you only score when your side is serving and must win by 2.

The game can be played indoors or outdoors. Outdoors is harder due to the wind and sun, but it just makes it a bit more challenging. To view some actual games or to learn to play, just do a search for pickleball on YouTube. There are tons of short video clips describing how to execute specific shots as well as actual tournament games.

Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in America! Have you played yet? If not, what are you waiting for? Join the fun!

Monday, May 15, 2017

Mother's Day was sad for us this year because we made the difficult decision to let our very affectionate cat, Manny, cross the Rainbow Bridge. He had several health issues develop in the last year or so and things just kept getting worse. I could see him losing weight before my eyes! His eating was up and down but the last couple days he couldn't keep anything down and quit trying even on Sunday. It was very sad, but I know in my heart it was the right thing to do. I did not want him to die alone or get so bad that he couldn't even stand anymore so I had a lot of quality time with him laying on me on the couch before church, while I watched a movie and the Indians game. We said our farewells at home and then we took him around 4:00 p.m. to the vet to be put out of his misery.

I knew I'd miss him a lot, but boy, this morning was even worse than I expected because morning was our special time together. He followed me everywhere! It felt strange not getting food for him this morning and not petting him while he rolled around the bathroom floor waiting for me. I missed him while had my devotions and exercised up in the den. He would always be near by and I'd pet him while I exercised, but not this morning. Then he used to climb on my lap while I ate my breakfast, letting me pet him some more but not this morning. If I'd go on the computer, he would either climb up and share the chair with me or lay on my lap. If I'd lay on the couch, up he'd come or if I sat in a chair reading a book, he would lay on my lap.

I told Spunky Doodle she's going to have to step up now and let me pet her more now that Manny is gone. She is doing a good job so far and is at the floor next to me. I'm sure she misses him too!

Manny brought us much joy during the nine years we had him and he will always have a special place in our hearts(we got him when he was 3 from a friend who was unable to keep him). He really did become "Mr. Nice Nice" as I predicted he would even though we got off to a rocky start: See "Bringing in a New Cat."

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

By accident, as in just flipping around channels when I was bored and looking for something to watch, I discovered The Kid's Baking Championship show on Food Network. Kids 9-12 competed in making all kinds of different desserts which then were judged by Valerie Bertinelli and Duff Goldman who kept things fun. I could watch this for hours!

I was amazed at how much these kids knew about baking! They did not use recipes and were challenged to be creative. Some started baking at 2 yrs. old and some actually had their own business! They were judged on taste, creativity and presentation. Some of the presentations were quite funny because some ran out of time and just had to pretty much throw it on the plate fast and not worry what it looked like. It was heartwarming to watch these kids compete because they were willing to help each other even though the winner would get $25,000. I felt sad though that there could only be one winner and it was all or nothing.

Aidan won. He nailed the finale with a beautifully decorated cake that apparently tasted good too and swirl ice cream to go with it. Second place finisher, Justice, got nothing. I really thought Justice would win because each week he was consistently in the top three and the judges raved about how good his cake was--Valerie even had a second piece! The boys proved that baking isn't just for girls.

I thought all the kids were fantastic! Watching this show actually made me almost want to bake something which I might have done if I had an oven. Check out their website (link above)--it has some great looking dessert recipes that are easy to make and you can see the videos of the kids who were in it.

Our annual spaghetti dinner/dessert auction youth fundraiser at church is coming up April 30 and I am looking forward to it! I wonder if anyone will make any of the desserts from the show.